You have come here
by Dreaming of my angel
Summary: Set three weeks after the fire of the opera house...the phantom takes in a new student...read and review!
1. journey to the opera house

Her name was Elizabeth Buquet, younger sister of Joseph Buquet, whom had been killed by the opera ghost, although she did not know of his death. Elizabeth had once lived at the Opera Populaire, studying to become a ballerina with her friends there. But one day, Elizabeth discovered that she had a particularly good singing voice, so she left the opera house in search of a voice tutor to help her perfect her singing. In search of a tutor, she went travelling round Europe. Although she had an excellent voice that could earn lots of money, her search was fruitless. By this time she had run out of money and had no home, leaving her on the streets with nothing except the clothes she was in and herself for company. The only way she could get food was by singing her heart out while sitting on the side of the road, and waiting for an odd passer by to drop and small bit of change from which she could buy some bread. She certainly turned the heads of passers by with her singing, but it didn't help her at all. At this time she was living in a small village just south of Paris, called Chartres.

She had been hoping that she would somehow be able to visit her brother and the inhabitants of the Opera Populaire, and perhaps even study at the ballet school again with Madame Giry. Elizabeth didn't know of the hanging of her brother or even the tragic fire of the Opera house, even though it was three weeks after the flames had flooded and destroyed some of the interior, leaving it unused (except for the opera ghost, of course). As she didn't know of this, she got ready to go with no worries.

With no money, she had only one way to get to Paris-she had to steal a horse from a local farm and ride there. So she crept into one of the farms in the village in the dead of night, saddled a horse and led it away quietly, careful not to disturb the owners. When she got far enough away from the farm, she got on the horse and they galloped away as quickly as possible.

After a couple of hours of riding the horse became tired, and they were luckily arriving in Paris. Elizabeth left her horse in a nearby field to graze, and she walked to the local market to get some food, as she was quite hungry. She didn't have any money, so she quickly snatched some food and ran for her life.


	2. the terrible truth of the opera house

Authors note: I don't own the story or characters from the phantom of the opera, that's owned by whoever it's owned by, the only character that's mine is Elizabeth, which I'm not honestly sure about because she's related to Joseph…oh well-enjoy!

Elizabeth ran straight towards a dark forest, her feet aching from stepping on sharp stones through her thin shoes. Elizabeth hadn't seen the river from far away, and she nearly ran straight into it, but she luckily saw it before it was too late.

Elizabeth looked around to find that there was no way of getting across except for wading through the icy waters. This wasn't a good idea to cross a cold river in February, but it was her only choice if she was to keep a low profile.

She decided to take to the water as quick as possible, so she could find somewhere to start a small fire to warm her up. Elizabeth stepped into the freezing water, and the shock of the cold slowed her, but she moved quickly, eager to reach the other side.

When Elizabeth reached the opposite side of the river, she scrambled out of the water, shivering her toes off. She ran to an odd shaped tree that seemed to shelter the things around it well, so she gathered some dry leaves and twigs to start a small fire. Elizabeth took out one match from inside her dress pocket and set alight the leaves.

The light from the fire warmed her up a lot and she looked around, wondering where she was…

Then she realised where she was-the forest round the back of the opera house. But the opera house didn't look normal, it had a layer of soot on the outside walls and it smelt of smoke. Elizabeth suddenly realised what happened and burst into tears, in fear of her brother being lost in the blaze.

After a few minutes she tried to comfort herself, and she suddenly remembered something she had been told when she was very young…

"Sing away your sorrows and you will see the light"

Her mother had told her that on her deathbed, and she sang a song to her, before closing her eyes and parting from her forever.

Elizabeth remembered that song and began to sing her heart out, attracting a certain person from the depths of the opera house…

"Christine! Christine is that you? Have you returned to your angel at last?" A voice whispered, though it seemed to be getting closer…

A had suddenly grasped her shoulder and turned her around…the masked face looked at her, disappointed.

"Come with me"


	3. Meet your teacher

Authors note: As before, I don't own anything to do with phantom of the opera apart from a copy of the amazing soundtrack that doesn't seem to want to leave my CD player…I hope you enjoy this chapter so read and review!

Elizabeth put the fire out and followed the stranger back to the river. Floating on its surface was a Small boat with a lantern sitting at the front. It was a beautiful boat that was a plain black colour with a gold rim around the top. Elizabeth wondered if it was real gold or paint, but then she noticed the man holding his hand out to help her into the boat. Elizabeth took his bony hand and stepped into the boat, then the stranger draped a thin cloak around her,

"You must be cold with those wet clothes at this time of day, have you been swimming?"

Elizabeth quietly said "Thank you"

As they entered a dark cave in the boat, and the stranger suddenly lit up their surroundings with a wave of his hand, making the thousands of candles situated around them light up to reveal a large cave with an organ and several mirrors around the room.

Elizabeth gasped about how beautiful such a simple place could be.

The boat bumped into the banks of the river and the figure cursed himself for being so stupid with the gold plated boat.

Suddenly the figure started answering the unasked questions she was thinking about on the way to the cave.

"I am Erik, the opera ghost, your angel of music. And Elizabeth, I'm sorry to say that your brother didn't survive the fire."

"H…how do you know my name?" She stuttered, not realising what he had just said until after she had asked that question, and she burst into tears.

"Calm down child, in answer to your question, I lived at the opera house long after you arrived here to live here when you were a child. I have lived here since my childhood, cursing the people around me for discriminating me for my face…now I have paid them back for the depression they caused me."

Elizabeth looked up into the stranger's face and saw that he was wearing a mask, she gasped and wondered what was behind it, but she stopped herself and thought she shouldn't be nosey.

"I understand your story monsieur, but I will never be able to feel what you felt…I don't care what you look like, because you have given me a home. I don't want to know what looks are behind your mask, I want to know the person you really are."

Erik seemed touched by this, and smiled, "I admire your depth Madame, now I know you have passed the test to becoming my student, and I can take you in to teach you to perfect your voice."

Elizabeth dried her tears and Erik helped her out of the boat.

"Now sing for me"

So Elizabeth started to sing her best but she started to cough and she asked for a drink politely.

"Certainly, I suspect you must be thirsty after sitting in front of that fire."

He handed her a drink of expensive grape wine, and she took it from him gratefully, and drank it up slowly for she hadn't had alcohol in a long time so she feared it might go straight to her head. She finished the drink and gave Erik the glass back and he put it down on a table.

He looked at her and said "You'll get a cold with those wet clothes on, let me get you some other clothes."

He went away into a store cupboard and came back with an expensive dress that was used for operas.

"I trust you'll take care of it." He said, smiling at her and handing it to her, "Now go and get changed in there." He said, pointing at the door of a dressing room.

She walked over to the door, turned and thanked Erik and continued on to get changed.

She got into the dress but had a little trouble doing up the corset, so she called to Erik for assistance, then he came in and help fasten it for her.

"It's beautiful" She said, "thank you very much"

"You are very welcome Madame, I should show you where your room is, before it gets too late."

He showed her to a room on the opposite side of the cave.

"Now we shall start your lessons, so sing for me!"

Elizabeth started to sing at the top of her voice, and Erik joined in. She suddenly realised how good they sounded together.

After a few minutes of singing, they stopped and Elizabeth began to yawn.

"I see you are tired, child, please get some sleep so you're not tired tomorrow."

Elizabeth went to her room and undressed, finding a nightgown on the bed so she changed into that. When she was changed, she peeked out of the door to say goodnight, and she then got into bed.

She lay for a few minutes and she suddenly remembered her brother-Erik said he hadn't survived…She burst into tears and Erik hear her crying, so he came into the room.

"I know why you cry, child but we must put the past behind us. Everyone will experience this in their lives."

Elizabeth slowly calmed down and dried her tears. Erik started singing a short lullaby to help her sleep.

" Put the day behind you,

Forget all of your worries,

Savour your precious peace of mind,

Drift off into your dreamland,

Where reality is nothing,

Leave all of your problems behind…"

He trailed off sensing she was asleep.


End file.
